discuss What is the problem with country name domain names?

[Allysin]

I own several country name domain names with different extensions. I have the hardest time posting these for sale on Sedo and Afternic. These are both country names in their respective local languages or English.

As an example (this is not a domain I own) - the German word for Germany is Deutschland.

So a name I might have is deutchland.net.

When I try to post it onto SEDO, it would say the following:

! deutchland.net: We're sorry, but Sedo cannot allow you to list this domain in your Sedo account or order services relating to this domain due to a potential conflict with the rights of a third party.

In the event that you believe that this action was taken in error, please contact us.

I have contacted Sedo and this is their reply:

Thank you for the email.

We are sorry you are disappointed, but please keep in mind that this has no effect on your ownership of this domain, it merely means you will not be able to sell it on Sedo.

If you would like to inquire further may email our legal department at [email protected].

If you have any further questions or comments, please visit our Customer Support Centre or check out our tutorials on Youtube.

Best regards,
Sedo Customer Care Team

Similarly, Afternic just puts SOME of these country domains into the 'IN REVIEW' section and it just sits there.

I know nothing about trademarks so I need to find out what the deal is here before I try to contact Sedo's legal department etc. My uneducated view here is - a country should belong to all of it's citizens so nobody should really be allowed to place any kind of a trademark! Any information or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[NickB]

Odd - The only thing I can think of is it might have some issues similar to the France .com legal dispute?

https://www.namepros.com/threads/france-com-gets-hit-with-udrp-from-france-com-inc.1273996/

https://www.reuters.com/legal/gover...ces-win-francecom-trademark-fight-2021-12-13/

Your country domains might have some legal issues - check with their legal team and do some thorough research into your domains as Sedo does have loads of country domains listed on their platform

Or better yet, get some legal advice.....

Without knowing the domains in question the above is all guess work......

 

[VadimK]

This happens. Sedo just won't list it, and there will be no explanation other than the one you received. Pointless to argue with them.
Afternic ''In review'' status can go both ways (whether accepted or rejected), but you need to contact their support and ask them directly.
Just create a landing page and put the name ''for sale'' there.

 

[bmugford]

It might be falsely flagged in relation to something like Deutsche Bank.

I had a similar issue listing a domain that contained "Hyattsville", a city, because it contained "Hyatt".

It is probably due to some automated system and TM list.

Brad

 

[likemike]

That has to be it Brad. When AI takes over like it is little by little on a daily basis that's what we get and we're sure to see more and more of it as things evolve.